As the roofs were carefully scraped into points and the turrets carved of sparkling dust, barefoot and bikinied spectators couldn’t help but marvel at the magnificent structure rising from the sand at Newport’s First Beach.

Deborah Allard

As the roofs were carefully scraped into points and the turrets carved of sparkling dust, barefoot and bikinied spectators couldn’t help but marvel at the magnificent structure rising from the sand at Newport’s First Beach.

Though building a first-class sand castle takes a bit more than kiddie-sized pails and a 6-inch plastic shovel, with a little planning and ingenuity anyone can build their very own beach fortress.

“You never know what you’ll get out of the sand you’re working with,” said Matt Grace, a sand sculptor for Santasia of Tiverton. “It’s something people don’t always think they can do.”

Grace and Santasia company owner, Steven Topazio, build sand castles and other sand structures for weddings, festivals and events and compete in contests with master sand-sculpting designers (they’re currently at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire).

“We compete three times a year,” Topazio said.

But master sand sculpting aside, Topazio said the average beach-goer (from kid to adult) can create a castle in an hour or two.

All that’s needed is sand and water (both available in quantity at the beach), buckets and a few sculpting tools.

Topazio gave a basic lesson in sand castle building and a list of what is needed: big and small shovels, buckets or containers (some with bottoms and others with the bottoms cut out of them), a rake and household or masonry tools like pointed and squared-off trowels, artist sculpting tools and brushes, and even things like spatulas used in cake decorating, a horse or dog grooming tool and kitchen utensils, like the common melon baller, pastry brush and straw (for blowing grains of sand out of your castle’s windows).

To make a large base for the castle, kiddie pool sides or heavy-grade tar paper can be used.

“Once you become acquainted with the techniques, you’ll see what each particular tool can do,” Topazio said.

Topazio began the sand castle building demonstration with some good, old-fashioned shoveling. Meanwhile, Grace filled buckets of water from the ocean.

Once a hole of considerable size was built, Topazio used a circular form and stood it in the hole to build the base. The form was filled with sand and then lots of water. This is where Grace mixed the sand by basically dancing in it, pounding it with his feet. If it seems like there’s too much water, don’t worry, Topazio said, because it will soak through.

“The key to this whole thing is the more compact the sand, the better,” Topazio said.
Another feature that makes sand castle building easier is the sand. It’s best to sculpt with a fine-grained sand (like the grains at First Beach).

“The smaller the grain, the better,” Topazio said.

The same technique was used to build a second story onto the castle, except they used a smaller form. Again, more sand and water and more mixing. To make smaller turrets on the base, they used regular-sized pails (open ended on both sides) and the same basic procedure.

Once the basic structure was built, they very carefully removed the forms one at a time, and then the buckets after a little tapping, twisting and pulling.

“You always work from small to big, you need that pyramid. The biggest fear is if it cracks, you have to carve around it or start again.”

His first sand sculpture was a castle he built while on vacation with his wife in Maine about seven years ago. He used a clam shell and the castle got bigger and bigger. His wife went to the hotel gift shop and bought him a kiddie bucket and shovel set to help.
Topazio, who has worked in retail construction for 20 years, didn’t give up his day job, but he did start competing and learning all he could about building sand sculptures — characters, not castles, are his favorites.

Two years ago, he hired Grace, a fine arts graduate, who likes the detail work best. Natural things like leaves and vines are his forte.

“I’m very detail oriented, I like twists and curves,” Grace said, carving out the castle’s windows. “It’s just like a painting,” Grace said. “You have to step back once in a while.”
That’s when the fun and the tools come in for detailing the fortress. Cake tools create windows. The melon baller carves out half-moons beneath roofs. The grooming tool adds texture.

“It’s a medium all by itself,” Topazio said. “It’s not like clay, wood or ice.”

If a sand castle is maintained, it can last for days or weeks and stand up to wind and rain. Though Grace and Topazio used nothing for this castle at First Beach but sand and water, they use a mixture of water and glue and spray it on sand sculptures that are meant to last longer, such as those created for weddings.

The longest-standing sand sculpture was built in British Columbia and lasted for 11 years, Topazio said. The tallest was built in Maine and stood 34 feet tall.

But, such feats are not required. Anyone can sculpt a sand castle with sand, water and a little patience — and maybe a few things from the garage and kitchen.